For the One I Love
by Ai Enmaxjigoku shoujo
Summary: Naruto lies awake at night, thinking of Sasuke. A tiny drabble, set on the night Sasuke leaves to join Orochimaru.


**DISCLAIMER: Naruto… tis shall never be mine. +cries+**

**~For the One I Love~**

Naruto tossed and turned all through the night, trying desperately to get some sleep. He told himself his momentary insomnia was due to the annoying buzzing of the air conditioner, or the itchy sheets, but that wasn't why.

Normally, as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was dead to the world, but tonight…

Something was off. He had a terrible taste in his mouth, and he felt sick to his stomach.

'Sasuke' his mind supplied as he rolled over for the hundredth time that night, Sasuke had to be the source of his problem. It was the Uchiha's fault Naruto wasn't getting any sleep.

"Stupid Sasuke." Naruto grumbled as he childishly buried his face into his pillow.

Truthfully, he was worried about his friend – though he would never admit it out loud. Something was wrong with Sasuke, he was falling into black it seemed, deteriorating as the days went by.

"I want to help him…" Naruto whispered to himself, his hands shaking with the urge to cry. But he knew – as sure as he knew he was the Kyuubi vessel – there was nothing he could do to help.

Taking in a deep breath, he shut his eyes and searched for Sasuke's chakra. (He could thank Kyuubi for this wondrous ability.) He just had to reassure himself that everything was alright. When Naruto did pinpoint the chakra, he found Sasuke near the gates, with… Sakura?

Naruto frowned to himself. What was going on? Judging by Sakura's chakra signature, she felt pretty safe at the moment – unguarded. But Sasuke… he was on high alert. Naruto briefly wondered if perhaps an enemy had infiltrated the village and Sasuke's sharingan had caught the intrusion.

That belief however, was quickly thrown out the window. When suddenly there was a fluctuation in Sasuke's chakra, followed by Sakura's diminishing, as if she had been knocked out.

Frantically, he searched for any other chakra sources in the area, but his two teammates were alone… But why would Sasuke knock out Sakura? And then, like a wave crashing on the beach, it dawned on him.

Shocked, Naruto sat up in bed, his eyes wide and his heart racing wildly in his chest. There was something else, something foreign, mixed in with Sasuke's chakra. It hung there limply like a broken spider web, but stuck fast. Contaminated chakra. Orochimaru sannin's chakra. It was coiled with the Uchiha's chakra, manipulating it… but why?

Suddenly however, it all made sense to the blonde. Sasuke's odd behavior, the strange marking the Uchiha donned on his neck, the oddly close eye Kakashi-sensei had been keeping on the Uchiha… His best friend had been bitten, cursed by that snake.

'What could Orochimaru have tempted Sasuke with?' Naruto wondered, 'What could Sasuke possibly want so much that he would willingly betray Konoha?'

The answer was simple. Power. Sasuke wanted power, craved it.

'That's why we fought on the roof like that, isn't it? Sasuke wanted to see how much power he had…'

Naruto felt sicker than ever.

"I want to help him." He whispered again, staring out the window wistfully, his hands clenched at his sides. This time he couldn't stop the onslaught of tears.

He should alert somebody, and then chase after Sasuke – he should bring him back.

But instead, Naruto lied back down in bed and smothered his face into his pillow, muffling his sobs.

He wanted to help Sasuke and give him what he wanted, even if it meant that Naruto had to let him go.

'There's nothing here for him.'

Yes, he'd play the part, pretend to try to bring Sasuke back, but… When the time called for it, he would be sure to fail every time.

"Sasuke…" Naruto whimpered, "I hope you'll thank me some day."

So as Sasuke betrayed Konoha, the villagers sleeping blissfully unaware, Naruto tossed and turned in bed. He tried telling himself his lack of sleep was from the annoying buzz of the air conditioner, or from the hospital's itchy sheets; but… in the end, the reason why didn't matter. All that mattered was that a sleepless night was a small price to pay for the one he loved.

**~OWARI~**


End file.
